New Power Party (NPP) caucus whip Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) was yesterday elected party chairman after beating Taipei City Councilor Lin Liang-chun (林亮君) in a chairperson by-election.
Speaking at a news conference after the vote, Hsu said he had originally wanted to convince former chairman Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) to reassume the position, but changed his mind after Chiu urged him to take over the chairmanship.
On Tuesday, the party’s decisionmaking committee failed to elect a leader after members voted 4-7 against Lin, the only candidate to have registered for the vote by its Sunday deadline.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Yesterday, seven committee members voted for Hsu, while five voted for Lin, NPP spokesman Chen Chih-ming (陳志明) said.
While the party has yet to schedule a date for Hsu to officially assume the chairmanship, he would immediately take over party affairs, Chen said.
“The NPP’s future strategies will mostly be an extension of what Chiu has laid down,” Hsu said.
The NPP would adhere to its belief in justice and fairness, and seek to carve out a new path different from those of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), he said.
While the NPP has faced a number of challenges from within and outside, he would swiftly and effectively prepare the party for the presidential and legislative elections in January next year, he added.
The NPP’s goal for the legislative elections is to perform better than it did in the 2016 elections, he said.
Specifically, he hopes the NPP would receive more than 1 million party votes, he said.
The NPP would nominate more legislative candidates in different constituencies and hopes to continue to play a pivotal role at the legislature, he added.
Asked if he would collaborate with the DPP or other pan-green parties in the elections, Hsu said he would keep an open mind.
“I am always ready to talk and can meet as many times as needed,” he said, adding that he hopes to meet with DPP Chairman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) to discuss collaborating in the elections as well as at the legislature.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
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Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3